A Green Party Against Immigration

As I noted on Monday, the standard line on the Swiss February 9 vote against unrestricted immigration–that it is the result of a growing xenophobia and nationalism, stoked by a fear-mongering, far-right People’s Party–is overly simplistic.

One detail that the American media have missed is that one of the unexpected supporters of the anti-immigration bill was the Green Party of Ticino in Switzerland’s only entirely Italian-speaking canton. While the national Green Party opposed the referendum, Ticino’s chapter sponsored a resolution in 2010 requesting the authority to fight the “harmful” effects of what it called “economic colonization.” Ticino borders Italy and is host to many Italian businesses and 60,000 Italian citizens, which make up nearly a third of the population. Switzerland as a whole has one of the highest percentages of foreign national residents in Europe.

That resolution was resubmitted to the federal government yesterday in light of the February 9 vote. While some members of the cantonal parliament viewed the request as moot, others, such as Sergio Savoia, were hopeful that request would be approved, opening the door for Ticino to tailor federal immigration policy as it sees fit.

The Green Party across Europe is strongly in favor of more open immigration policies, but, as in Ticino, some local chapters and individual members are concerned about the effects of overpopulation on the environment. In England last year, Green party members lamented a strongly worded statement by their Party’s leader against immigration caps. And the Green Party in Scotland has come out in support Scottish Independence in part because decentralization would allow them to better manage natural resources.

Again, viewing the Swiss vote as a vote motivated by xenophobia misses the fact that it was also motivated by strong anti-multinational sentiment as well.

Many environmentalists also lament the unchecked rise of the world’s population but rarely speak openly about the issue, except perhaps in the most general terms, in order not to be construed as racist.

I cannot imagine why any nation would support or allow unrestricted immigration.

I cannot understand why any developed nation would let its native population want for quality education, quality healthcare, quality jobs etc particularly those americans who:
-live in small town american which has been eviscerated by job and population loss
-low income americans who no longer have an economic ladder out of entrenched poverty because of the exportation of manufacturing and service jobs
-those americans entrenched in poor schools , resulting in poor education and live in declining cities.
-long term unemployed displaced by enormous boom/bust economic cycles.

All of these americans have deserve resources brought to support them. As long as we americans in need…it is americans that deserve full use of our resources. Developed nations have a surplus of labor not a shortage.

Its lunacy to continue unrestricted immigration during times of surplus labor in our economy and americans are in the greatest of need.

Worst of all, during the depression and all recessions prior to 1965 the US had no problem shutting off immigration until the labor market needed additional labor.

It is corruption at its most blatant and visible level, contempt for the US citizenry, that ignores the fates of americans to favor illegal and legal immigrants.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that sustainability and mass immigration are mutually exclusive. How any Green in my state (California) can support continued mass immigration after watching acre faster acre fall to housing development is beyond me. These people are either frauds or cowards. Sadly, I’m registered Green because there’s nothing better.